September 21

Why is this story an example of opinionated journalism? It’s clear that for some Finns, and especially for political parties like the Perussuomalaiset (PS)*, that the humanitarian crisis has brought out the worst in them. There is no respect for human rights and people are seen as numbers with price tags. Anti-immigration sentiment is strong in this country as well. Immigration is seen by too many as a problem, not as an opportunity. That’s why you see the present debate on asylum seekers shifting in the media from people fleeing war and poverty to “human trafficking.” The YLE story shows three ungrateful Iraqis that came here and now want to return back to their country. What do such thankless persons in the story signal to the reader? Is it that the three asylum seekers, as well as many others, that are coming to Finland from Iraq aren’t real refugees? Why would a person who’s seen war, members of his family killed and sold everything to move here, would want to return to Iraq? Why doesn’t the reporter write about the hundreds of thousands of asylum seekers who are fleeing war but cannot return to their former homes? The wish of the Iraqis to return to their country must be the same that the reporter has for them: Go back to where you came from!

* The Finnish name for the Finns Party is the Perussuomalaiset (PS). The English names of the party adopted by the PS, like True Finns or Finns Party, promote in our opinion nativist nationalism and xenophobia. We therefore prefer to use the Finnish name of the party on our postings.